Elizabeth Romanoff and Jorge Silva: Internships of a Lifetime with the FIFA World Cup in South Africa

Elizabeth Romanoff (MPA ’11) and Jorge Silva (MAIPS ’11) at the World Cup in South Africa.

July 6, 2010

Students Elizabeth Romanoff (MPA ’11) and Jorge Silva (MAIPS ’11) capitalized on their fluency in English and Spanish and built on their studies in international management at the Monterey Institute to land a coveted three-week internship with the Mexican Soccer Federation during the World Cup in South Africa. “We had to travel all over the country to see the games, so it was quite crazy since some of the distances were quite large and the FIFA South Africa Organization was really unorganized,” says Elizabeth adding that analyzing the World Cup organizers would have been the perfect project for the nonprofit management class she took last semester.

The pair had the chance to visit Johannesburg, Polokwane, Sun City, Rustenburg and Pretoria, go on a two-day safari, and see all the first- and second-round games of both United States and Mexico as well as Chile against Spain. Elizabeth explains, “We supported both the Mexican and US teams since we both identify ourselves as Mexican and American.” They were accordingly very disappointed to see neither of their teams advance past the Round of 16.

Jorge and Elizabeth are looking forward to continuing their studies at the Monterey Institute this fall and enjoying the temperate climate of Monterey after experiencing the freezing cold of a South African winter and the blistering heat of summer in Guadalajara. They will no doubt draw on their amazing experience in their academic work.